People's Republic of Poland
| style="border: 0px currentColor; text-align: right; line-height: 105%; font-size: 30%; vertical-align: middle;" width="50"| |} |- class="mergedtoprow" | class="maptable" colspan="2"| |- | colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 95%; vertical-align: top;"|'Anthem' Mazurek Dąbrowskiego |- | colspan="2" style="padding: 0.6em 0em; text-align: center; font-size: 95%;"| |- | width="50%"|'Capital' | width="50%"|Warsaw, People's Republic of Poland |- |'Language(s)' |Polish |- class="mergedtoprow" |'Government' | *Marxist–Leninist single-party socialist state *People's Republic |- class="mergedrow" | colspan="2"|'First Secretary' |- class="mergedrow" | - 1944-1948 (first) |Władysław Gomułka |- class="mergedrow" | - 1981-1990 |Wojciech Jaruzelski |- class="mergedrow" | colspan="2"|'Head of State' |- class="mergedrow" | - 1944-1952 (first) |Bolesław Bierut |- class="mergedbottomrow" | - 1985-1990 |Wojciech Jaruzelski |- class="mergedtoprow" |'Historical era' |Cold War |- class="mergedrow" | - Provisional Governm. |1944 |- class="mergedrow" | - Party establishes |December 16, 1948 |- class="mergedrow" | - Constitution |July 22, 1952 |- class="mergedbottomrow" | - Amendments restoring democracy |December 30, 1989 |- | colspan="2"|'Area' |- class="mergedbottomrow" | - 2050 |312,685 km2 (120,728 sq mi) |- class="mergedtoprow" | colspan="2"|'Population' |- class="mergedrow" | - 1946 est. |23,930,000 |- class="mergedrow" | - 1990 est. |37,970,155 |- | - 2050 est. |42,220,000 |- class="mergedbottomrow" |Density (1990) |121.4 /km2 (314.5 /sq mi) |- |'Currency' |Old Polish złoty |} The People's Republic of Poland (Polish: Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) is an socialist state located in Eastern Europe that have existed since its foundation in 1952. From 1944 to 1952 Rzeczpospolita Polska (The Republic of Poland) was the name of the Polish state. Bordered by East Germany to the west; Czechoslovakia to the south, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union to the east and northeast. The total area of the People's Republic of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi), making it the second largest country in Eastern Europe by total area. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union has much influence over internal affairs and foreign affairs, and Red Army forces were stationed in Poland (1945 - 500,000; until 1955 - 120,000 to 150,000, until 1989 - 40,000 and from 1990 - 200,000). Therefore the People's Republic of Poland has been described as a satellite state of the Soviet Union. In 1945, Soviet generals and advisors formed 80% of the officer cadre of Wojsko Polskie. The Polish United Workers' Party became the dominant political party, officially making the country a Socialist state. It is a member of the Warsaw Pact and Comecon; and People's Republic of Poland has one of the most advanced armed forces within the Eastern Bloc, and has emerged as an military great power. People's Republic of Poland's military numbers more than 400,000 active troops, and have an estimated 2,200 combat aircraft. It also possesses weapons of mass destruction. It is also estimated than Soviet Union have 200,000 active troops stationed there. In 1989, People's Republic of Poland made democratic and economic reforms, replacing the Polish planned economy with a very succesful socialist-oriented market economy, which saw huge economic growth rates in the 1990s and well into the 21st century. It is one of the world's largest socialist economies, and the third largest economy within the Warsaw Pact after Soviet Union and East Germany with an nominal GDP of $2.1 trillion. History Main article: History of People's Republic of Poland At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Joseph Stalin was able to present his western allies, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, with a fait accompli in Poland. His armed forces were in occupation of the country, and his agents, the communists, were in control of its administration. The USSR was in the process of incorporating the lands in eastern Poland which it had occupied between 1939 and 1941. In compensation, the USSR awarded Poland all the German territories in Pomerania, Silesia and Brandenburg east of the Oder-Neisse Line, plus the southern half of East Prussia. These awards were confirmed at the Tripartite Conference of Berlin, otherwise known as the Potsdam Conference in August 1945 after the end of the war in Europe. Stalin was determined that Poland's new government would become his tool towards making Poland a Soviet puppet state controlled by the communists. He had severed relations with the Polish government-in-exile in London in 1943, but to appease Roosevelt and Churchill he agreed at Yalta that a coalition government would be formed. The communists held a majority of key posts in this new government, and with Soviet support they soon gained almost total control of the country, rigging all elections. Their opponents, led by Stanisław Mikołajczyk, managed only one victory, but it was a substantial one: Poland preserved its status as an independent state, contrary to the plans of some influential communists such as Wanda Wasilewska, who were in favour of Poland becoming another republic of the Soviet Union. This important victory would be their last, however, as the communists, tightening their grip on power, began political persecution of all opposition. Many of their opponents decided to leave the country, and others were put on staged trials and sentenced to many years of imprisonment or execution. In June 1946 the "Three Times Yes" referendum was held on a number of issues—abolition of the Senate of Poland, land reform, and making the Oder-Neisse line Poland's western border. The communist-controlled Interior Ministry issued results showing that all three questions passed overwhelmingly. Between then and the Polish legislative elections, 1947, the opposition was subjected to ruthless persecution, and many opposition candidates were prevented from campaigning. The Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe (PSL) party in particular suffered harsh persecution; it had opposed the abolition of the Senate as a test of strength against the government. Although it supported the other two questions, the Communist-dominated government branded the PSL "traitors". This massive repression was overseen by the leader of the Polish Workers' Party, Władysław Gomułka. He was assisted by the provisional president, Bolesław Bierut. Gomułka then took advantage of a split in the Polish Socialist Party. One faction, which included Prime Minister Edward Osóbka-Morawski, wanted to join forces with the Peasant Party and form a united front against the Communists. Another faction, led by Józef Cyrankiewicz, argued that the Socialists should support the Communists in carrying through a socialist program, while opposing the imposition of one-party rule. Pre-war political hostilities continued to influence events, and Mikołajczyk would not agree to form a united front with the Socialists. The Communists played on these divisions by dismissing Osóbka-Morawski and making Cyrankiewicz Prime Minister. The official results of the election showed the Communist-dominated "Democratic Bloc" (the PPR, Cyrankiewicz' faction of the PPS, and the Democratic Party (People's Republic of Poland)) with 80.1 percent of the vote—an implausibly high total that could have only been obtained through massive fraud. The Communists and its allies were awarded 394 seats to only 28 for the PSL. Mikołajczyk immediately resigned, and fled to the United Kingdom in April rather than face arrest. This point marked the beginning of undisguised Communist rule in Poland, though it was not officially transformed into the People's Republic of Poland until the adoption of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Poland in 1952. However, Gomułka never supported Stalin's control over the Polish Communists, and was soon replaced as party leader by the more pliable Bierut. In 1948, the Communists consolidated their power, merging with Cyrankiewicz' faction of the PPS to form the Polish United Workers' Party (known in People's Republic of Poland as 'the Party'), which would monopolise political power in Poland until 1989. In 1949, Soviet Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky became Polish Minister of National Defence, with the additional title Marshal of People's Republic of Poland, and in 1952 he became Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers (deputy premier). Over the coming years, private industry was nationalised, the land seized from the pre-war landowners and redistributed to the peasants, and millions of Poles were transferred from the lost eastern territories to the lands acquired from Germany. Poland was now to be brought into line with the Soviet model of a "people's democracy" and a centrally planned socialist economy. The government also embarked on the collectivisation of agriculture, although the pace was slower than in other satellites: Poland remained the only Soviet bloc country where individual peasants dominated agriculture. Bierut died in March 1956, and was replaced with Edward Ochab. In June, workers in the industrial city of Poznań went on strike, in what became known as Poznań 1956 protests. Voices began to be raised in the Party and among the intellectuals calling for wider reforms of the Stalinist system. Eventually, power shifted towards Gomułka, who replaced Bierut as party leader. Hardline Stalinists were removed from power and many Soviet officers serving in the People's Army of the People's Republic of Poland were dismissed. This marked the end of the Stalinist era. However, by the mid 1960s Gomułka's reformist veil had long since fallen off, and Poland was starting to experience economic as well as political difficulties. 1970s and 1980s Gomułka's government had decided to prop up the failing economy by suddenly announcing massive increases in the prices of basic foodstuffs. The resulting widespread violent protests resulted in the Polish 1970 protests that resulted a number of deaths. They also forced another major change in the government, as Gomułka was replaced by Edward Gierek as the new First Secretary. Gierek's plan for recovery was centered on massive borrowing, mainly from the United States and West Germany, to re-equip and modernize Polish industry, and to import consumer goods to give the workers some incentive to work. While it boosted the Polish economy, and is still remembered as the "Golden Age" of socialist Poland, the obvious repercussion in the form of massive debt is still felt in Poland even today. This Golden Age came to an end after the 1973 energy crisis. The failure of the Gierek government, both economically and politically, soon led to the creation of opposition in the form of trade unions, student groups, clandestine newspapers and publishers, imported books and newspapers, and even a "flying university." On 16 October 1978 the Archbishop of Kraków, Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, was elected Pope, taking the name John Paul II. The election of a Polish Pope had an electrifying effect on what had been, even under Communist rule, one of the most devoutly Catholic nations in Europe. Gierek is alleged to have said to his cabinet, 'O God, what are we going to do now?' or, as occasionally reported, "Jesus and Mary, this is the end." When John Paul toured Poland in June 1979, half a million people heard him speak in Warsaw. John Paul did not call for rebellion, instead he encouraged the creation of an "alternative Poland" of social institutions independent of the government, so that when the next crisis came, the nation would present a united front. A new wave of strikes undermined Gierek's government, and in September Gierek, who was in poor health, was finally removed from office and replaced as Party leader by Stanisław Kania. However Kania was unable to find an answer for the fast-eroding support of communism in Poland. Labour turmoil led to the formation of the independent trade union Solidarity (Polish Solidarność) in September 1980, originally led by Lech Wałęsa. In fact Solidarity became a broad anti-communist social movement ranging from people associated with the Roman Catholic Church, to members of the anti-socialist left. By the end of 1981, Solidarity had nine million members—a quarter of Poland's population and three times as many as the PUWP had. Kania resigned under Soviet pressure in October and was succeeded by Wojciech Jaruzelski, who had been defence minister since 1968 and premier since February. On December 13, 1981, Jaruzelski proclaimed martial law, suspended Solidarity, and temporarily imprisoned most of its leaders. This sudden crackdown on Solidarity was reportedly out of fear of Soviet intervention (see Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis of 1980–1981). The government then banned Solidarity on October 8, 1982. Martial law was formally lifted in July 1983, though many heightened controls on civil liberties and political life, as well as food rationing, remained in place through the mid-to-late-1980s. Jaruzelski stepped down as prime minister in 1985 and became president (chairman of the Council of State). This did not prevent Solidarity from gaining more support and power. Eventually it eroded the dominance of the PUWP, which in 1981 lost approximately 85,000 of its 3 million members. Throughout the mid-1980s, Solidarity persisted solely as an underground organization, but by the late 1980s was sufficiently strong to frustrate Jaruzelski's attempts at reform, and nationwide strikes in 1988 were one of the factors that forced the government to open a dialogue with Solidarity. From February 6 to April 15, 1989, talks of 13 working groups in 94 sessions, which became known as the "Polish Round Table Agreement" (Polish: Rozmowy Okrągłego Stołu) saw the PUWP abandon power and radically altered the shape of the country. The semi-free June elections brought a victory for the Solidarity movement that took all contested (35%) seats in the Sejm, the Parliament's lower house, and all but one seat in the fully free elected Senat. The Communists' longtime satellite parties, the United People's Party and Democratic Party, broke their alliance with the Communists and threw their support to Solidarity. Left with no other choice, Jaruzelski, who had been named president in July, appointed a Solidarity-led coalition government with Tadeusz Mazowiecki as the country's first non-Communist prime minister since 1948. On December 29 the Parliament amended the Constitution to formally restore democracy, the rule of law and civil liberties. This began the Third Polish Republic and effectively ended the Communist Party's hold on the government. Solidarity became the first non-Communist party and the second largest party in People's Republic of Poland, after the Communist Party. 1990s People's Republic of Poland underwent a economic boom during the early 1990s and a programme was proposed by the Solidarity to make a modernisation of the country, which entered in 1991. 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